HONG KONG (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings launched a climate
change fund on Thursday to give investors a chance to turn a
threat into an opportunity by buying into the increasing number
of firms trying to tackle global warming.

"As recently as five years ago, who talked about climate
change? Very few people. It was fashionable to be sceptical...
It seems the tide has turned quite significantly," said Patrice
Conxicoeur, chief executive of SINOPIA, the quantitative
investment arm of the global bank, which will manage the fund.

"The market has taken notice," he told a news conference to
launch the fund.

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The fund, "HSBC Global Investment Funds - Climate Change"
will aim to outperform HSBC's own climate change benchmark
index by 3 percent per year, which the bank said had shown a
164 percent return since January 1, 2004.

"In terms of return profile, I think this should generate
for our investors returns which are commensurate with the type
of returns they would expect from investing in emerging
companies," said Conxicoeur.

"Clearly it's an emerging industry and an emerging theme...
It's not going away. Even if all those companies come up with
very nice solutions overnight - which is not going to happen,
it's going to be a long slog."

The fund, which opened to Hong Kong retail investors on
Thursday and is expected to be available globally, will target
50-70 of the 300 companies in the benchmark index.

It will invest in three areas: producers of low carbon
energy including renewables, gas and nuclear; firms with
energy-efficient products such as fuel cells and insulation;
and companies dealing with water, waste and pollution control.

The make-up of the index, and therefore the fund's
portfolio, would change over time to reflect development of the
sector, potentially adding stocks such as companies building
flood defenses and specialized financial firms, he said.